LAKE CRESCENT, Wash. — A 5-year-old boy died and four others sustained injuries when a tree fell on a sport utility vehicle traveling on U.S. Highway 101 in Olympic National Park on Sunday.
The uncle of the 5-year-old boy spoke from Harborview Medical Center on Tuesday, telling reporters that his family is tight knit.
The grandparents and their three children were celebrating the holidays in the area when the large evergreen fell at about 2:15 p.m. Sunday and struck the eastbound vehicle near Lake Crescent.
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Officials say two children and one adult got out on their own and were transported to Olympic Medical Center.
The other adult had to be extricated and was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
“He was well loved, he was always smiling,” uncle Aaron Young said through tears at Tuesday’s news conference. “They’re [the children in the family] happy kids. They love to be outdoors … I don’t even know how to describe them, all the babies are all wonderful.”